Date Dilemma
by badly-knitted
Summary: Dee is taking Ryo out on a proper date, which is great. Ryo just has one tiny problem. Set after Vol. 7. Written for Prompt # 3: Dilemma at anythingdrabble. This is the longer version of the ficlet posted to the community.


**Title:** Date Dilemma

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Ryo, Dee

 **Rating:** G

 **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

 **Summary:** Dee is taking Ryo out on a proper date, which is great. Ryo just has one tiny problem.

 **Word Count:** 733

 **Written For:** Prompt # 3: Dilemma at anythingdrabble.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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Ryo had headed straight home after work, not even taking a detour to pick up something for dinner. More remarkable even than that, he hadn't lingered in the squad room at the end of shift in order to finish all of his paperwork, as he so often did. Instead, he'd been one of the first to leave, the other being Dee, who always left as fast as possible to avoid being talked into working overtime.

The reason Ryo had left work so precipitously was that Dee was taking him out on a date; a proper date, not just grabbing a few drinks or a bite to eat after a hard day at work, followed by a very enjoyable romp in bed, which was what usually constituted their 'dates'. Working long hours meant they were often too tired to do anything that required more planning or effort, but Dee had decided they were getting into a bit of a rut, and as their caseload was currently lighter than usual, tonight had seemed like the ideal opportunity to change things up a bit.

Arriving home, Ryo made straight for the bathroom to shower. Dee would be picking him up in just under an hour, so if he wanted to be ready on time he couldn't afford to dawdle.

The shower felt good, washing away the accumulated sweat and grime of the day, and he lingered perhaps a little longer than he should have before stepping out and briskly drying himself off. Tossing the towel over the rail to dry, he pulled on clean underwear, because he felt awkward standing around naked even if there was nobody else there to see, then brushed his teeth and shaved. For the sake of speed, and because the weather was chilly enough that he didn't want to venture outside with damp hair, instead of leaving it to dry naturally he got out his seldom-used hairdryer and gave himself a quick blow-dry. Running a comb through his unruly mop, he styled it casually using just enough gel to make sure it would behave, before slipping into his bathrobe and padding barefoot into his bedroom to dress. That was when he hit a snag.

He stared into his closet, picking out one outfit after another, then putting them back, caught on the horns of a dilemma. What should he wear? Would a suit be too formal? Would jeans be too casual? After ten minutes of indecision, he finally gave in and picked up his phone to call Dee.

"Hey, what's up?" Dee greeted him. A note of suspicion crept into his voice, and Ryo could picture his lover frowning. "You're not callin' to cancel our date, are ya?"

"What?" Ryo was taken aback; why would Dee think he'd do that? "No, of course not, it's just…" He hesitated for a moment, suddenly feeling foolish, but he needed to know. "How am I supposed to decide what to wear when you won't tell me where we're going?" The words came out in such a rush he briefly worried that Dee might ask him to repeat what he'd just said, but instead all he heard over the phone was Dee's warm laughter.

"Only you would get stressed over that."

"Well, I don't want to put on jeans and then find we're going somewhere with a strict dress code," Ryo grumbled, slightly annoyed by Dee's attitude. "That wouldn't be a good start to our date."

"Relax, we're not; don't ya think I would've said if we were? Smart casual, okay? Slacks, shirt, sports jacket. No tie. That's pretty much what I'm wearin'."

Ryo breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, I can do that," he said, turning back to the contents of his closet.

"Good. Better get your ass in gear; I'll be pickin' you up in twenty."

"I know, I'll be ready." Panic over, Ryo plucked out tan pants and a white shirt with stripes in shades of brown, followed by a chocolate brown jacket, and selected a dark brown leather belt with a fancy gold-colored buckle. "See you in a bit." Hanging up, he set his phone on the bed beside his keys and wallet, so he wouldn't forget to take them with him, and started to dress. He still didn't know where Dee was taking him, but that was okay. Wherever it was, at least now he knew he'd be suitably attired.

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The End


End file.
